


Echoing Steps

by Afoolforatook



Series: An Anthology of Affection [20]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Cellist Clover, Election Night, First Kiss, M/M, Musicians!AU, No Beta, artificial height difference
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:27:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25323109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Afoolforatook/pseuds/Afoolforatook
Summary: There are little places in schoolsWhere you find a quiet reprieve from busy routineAnd even years later, after your school days have passedThose little escapes that whisper of your pastCan grant you a few precious moments-----------Part 20Saw a post of kissing prompts. Liked a bunch of them. Decided to give myself a daily challenge to get myself actually publishing things while I work on bigger projects.One prompt a day. Under 1500 words (or close to it).
Relationships: Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi
Series: An Anthology of Affection [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1805008
Comments: 12
Kudos: 31





	Echoing Steps

Prompt 20 - Kissing in a stairwell, giving them an artificial height difference.

Echoing Steps

\---------

The kids were all going out, doing their own things. Qrow had planned on maybe taking a relaxing flight.

But then Clover had asked if he’d join him for the evening. Qrow had flushed and accepted, asking what his partner had in mind. 

The brunet just smiled and told him to meet him by the entrance to the far-right stairwell at the end of the academic wing of the school after the kids had all headed out. 

“You might want to bring a coat.” The Atlesian added, winking as he gave a playful salute and turned to leave. 

“Are you?” Qrow teased, pointedly looking, and for a moment fixating, on the slope of his perpetually bare shoulders and perfectly defined arms. 

Clover stopped and pretended to take a moment to think, looking at his own arms before grinning back at Qrow. 

“I’ll chance it. And, if I do get cold, with my luck there’ll be a kind soul around who would share theirs with me.”

He didn't budge for a moment, just meeting Qrow’s gaze sincerely. 

Qrow blinked, cheeks warm with a flush, before finally recovering enough to reply. 

“Put a lot of your hopes in ‘kind souls’ being around when you need?” He asked snarkily, still a little flustered. 

Clover seemed to shift towards him just barely as he spoke, voice soft but sure. 

“Only when I trust them enough to ask them to be.” His eyes flickered to Qrow’s lips for only a moment before he backed away again. 

“So. I’ll see you tonight?” The question was genuine, not cocky, or assuming, but as if he was testing the waters once more to make sure Qrow had found his footing. 

Qrow just nodded silently for a moment before finally getting out “Y-yeah, Boy Scout. See you tonight.” 

Clover smiled in a way that made his eyes light up, the small tug of dimples pitting his cheeks. 

“I’m looking forward to it.” He said softly before nodding and turning to head back to his own room. 

Qrow stood there frozen for a moment until he finally walked back to his room, head buzzing softly. 

\------------

A couple of hours later Qrow walked up to find Clover already leaning on the wall beside the door to a discrete stairwell casually. 

He was out of his uniform, wearing an earthy green vest sitting comfortably over his grey tank and dark jeans, his usual boots on. 

Clover noticed Qrow as he walked up and chuckled as he noticed how he wasn’t sporting any jacket but had put on a different shirt, sleeves rolled down, and cuffed snugly at his wrists.

Clover wondered, not for the first time, how the man could stand wearing so many layers, even in the cold. 

But however he did it, he looked good. 

Qrow stopped in front of his partner, eyes looking around curiously. 

“So… We finishing some Senior prank you never got to do or something?” He asked teasingly. 

Clover rolled his eyes. 

“No. This is just… my favorite way up to the roof.” 

Qrow narrowed his eyes as Clover nodded to the door to the stairwell behind him. 

“What, this your old secret makeout spo-” Qrow stopped himself, cheeks instantly burning as he realized that it might actually be. And he brought him...

Clover graciously chuckled as he pushed open the door and motioned for Qrow to go on ahead. 

“No. Though for some people it was.” He looked around as he closed the door behind him, and placed a hand on the railing. Qrow noticed that beyond the stairs was a little nook of place, tucked away like a completely ordinary little secret. 

“I just always liked the acoustics.” Clover continued, starting up the stairs and nodding for Qrow to follow. 

“I used to sneak back here after classes and training and run scale drills. When I was lucky I got my hands on some new sheet music we hadn’t started working with and would tuck back in here and just disappear for a while.”

Qrow’s eyes slowly widened as he listened to his partner talk. 

“You… You play?” He asked, hoping he hid the eager shock in his voice. 

“Yeah. Cello. All through school. It’s part of what made me want to be a huntsman actually and eventually join the military. That feeling of trust and wordless understanding with your ensemble, it was invigorating. And now I’ve got my own little quintet.” He chuckled. 

Qrow had stopped, watching Clover in awe as he continued to climb as he spoke. When Clover noticed that he had fallen behind he turned, looking down at him. 

Qrow suddenly laughed loudly, hand at his side. Clover stared wide-eyed. 

“What’s so funny. What, didn’t expect me to be a band geek?” Clover asked, a tinge of actual embarrassment to his words. 

“No, actually. Just the opposite. That… That makes total sense. Of course you’d love that. And…” He paused, righting himself, and smiling fondly at Clover. 

“Cello. Yeah, I see it. I…” He looked around the echoey stairwell, now understanding. 

“I’m sure it sounded amazing in here.” He whispered, lost for a moment in the simple structure, this mundane corner of such a grand building, that was a small, cherished part of Clover's past. He kept climbing, Clover keeping pace right beside him.

“I’d love to hear you play sometime, Cloves. See you play…” He amended with a whisper. 

He was about to take another step when Clover's hand stopped him. The younger huntsman held his wrist as he moved, taking a couple of steps up past him and turning to look down at his partner. 

Teal eyes met rust with a soft smile. 

“I’d like that, Qrow. I’d really like that.” He looked down as he slowly, slightly hesitantly, slid his hand down, moving from holding Qrow’s wrist to tenderly taking his hand. 

“You know, Qrow…” Clover mused as he looked down at their hands thoughtfully. 

“I used to think it was just the expected nature of teenagers to find some secluded corner to sneak away to. Kind of frivolous, really. But…” He held his breath as he watched his fingers slowly slide to curl comfortably between Qrow’s. 

He looked back up to meet his eyes, the usual fraction of a difference in their height magnified by the empty step between them. 

Clover’s voice was quiet as he held Qrow’s gaze. 

“But I kind of get it now.” 

His eyes slowly dragged down to Qrow’s lips before finding crimson irises again. 

“Wanting to find some simple little place to…”

His free hand carefully raised to push a strand of silver dusted hair from Qrow’s face, Clover’s eyes soft and fond.

“To take someone you care about, and find an easy moment away from the chaos of everything going on from day to day…” 

His fingers trailed down Qrow’s cheek, before hooking under his chin. 

“And pretend for just a moment it’s just you and them.” 

He stroked Qrow’s jaw gently as he started to lean forward, closing the extra distance between them gradually. 

“Does that make sense, Qrow?” He asked, voice uncharacteristically vulnerable as he met Qrow’s eyes, a questioning desire behind them. 

Qrow gulped and blinked slowly before nodding ever so slightly, never breaking eye contact. 

“Yeah… Yeah, Cloves… That… I… I think I agree,” He murmured as he shifted forward, fingers curling tighter around Clover’s while the other hand anchored on his raised forearm. 

They both took that last distance, lips meeting gently and cautiously like they really were two nervous teenagers finding a private moment to finally test some long felt draw. 

Clover cupped Qrow’s cheek as he leaned down, breathing in deeply as Qrow found him. 

The soft, careful thing quickly morphed, Clover’s hand sliding back to curl in Qrow’s hair, pulling him up towards him gently. Qrow followed the guide, slipping his hand from Clover’s and moving to hold Clover’s face securely between his palms. In a quick, electric moment he stepped up to bring them back closer to their normal height; an action that forced Clover to shift his weight back. As he did so he turned slightly, so that his back was against the cool railing, as Qrow cleared the last step, bringing them back to equal footing. 

Clover curled towards him, both hands carding peacefully through Qrow’s hair, his back curving as Qrow slipped a hand around his waist and pulled him closer, the other hooking under and ear as he took a shaky breath against Clover’s lips. 

His eyes were closed, brow furrowed slightly as he started to speak, not pulling away. 

“Clover, I- I don’t -” 

He was interrupted by two shrill rings coming from each of their scrolls. Not rings. Alarms. 

The moment immediately forgotten, they both jumped to grab the devices. 

Qrow was just seeing the short messages from Ruby, catching quick details; the election, attack, Tyrian. Penny, when a call from her came through. Right as he answered to hear her panicked voice, the Academy alarms went off. 

Qrow and Clover’s eyes met, their expressions a mix of worry and determination, clouding a soft apology and disappointment; as they both knew that their simple, private moment, had passed.

**Author's Note:**

> This wasn't intended to have such a similar feel in some ways to delta_altair's Sonata For Two but.... oops....
> 
> Because in my arts school with fancy private practice rooms, everyone always fought over that one echoing stairwell. 
> 
> \----
> 
> There were 50 prompts originally, but I've already thought of a few more. Also had multiple ideas for a few, which is why some might be listed as chapter 1, with a future version of the prompt coming later.
> 
> \-------------
> 
> Might not end up sticking strictly to the daily thing, but I'll do my best. Either way, here's an ongoing series of little moments.
> 
> Original prompt list - https://kashimalin-fanfiction.tumblr.com/post/178524845380/50-types-of-kisses-writing-prompts
> 
> Might edit here and there later, but the goal here was to just finish something, even if it's not perfectly polished.


End file.
